Strike!

[albion]

If I cycled to Whitby today I could get the train back to Newcastle for £4.80.
A small price for going green,

 

[Beebo]

My mother in law is an incontinent lady with dementia.
She was rushed to hospital in an ambulance at 3pm yesterday with suspected kidney failure. She spent last night on a chair in A&E and will spent tonight on a trolley in A&E, waiting for a bed to come free on the wards. My wife has been with her in A&E now for 29 hours. My brother in law will spend tonight with her. It is simply unacceptable to treat anyone like this.
I know there is a junior doctors strike on, but I hold the government totally responsible for this awful situation.
There must be thousands of people all over the country suffering like this.
How dare the government allow this to happen.

 

[BoldonLad]

My mother in law is an incontinent lady with dementia.
She was rushed to hospital in an ambulance at 3pm yesterday with suspected kidney failure. She spent last night on a chair in A&E and will spent tonight on a trolley in A&E, waiting for a bed to come free on the wards. My wife has been with her in A&E now for 29 hours. My brother in law will spend tonight with her. It is simply unacceptable to treat anyone like this.
I know there is a junior doctors strike on, but I hold the government totally responsible for this awful situation.
There must be thousands of people all over the country suffering like this.
How dare the government allow this to happen.

Had similar experience with my own mother in the 1990's., so, you have my sympathies.

Mrs @BoldonLad is at the dementia stage, incontenance hasn't arrived yet (not that I am complaining about that).

Not a lot has changed.

We have paid into this Ponzi scheme for 50+ years, but, when we want our "cash" it is not there. Maybe, some people need to go to Jail, although, that will not actually help the Patients in need.

 

[Beebo]

My mother in law is an incontinent lady with dementia.
She was rushed to hospital in an ambulance at 3pm yesterday with suspected kidney failure. She spent last night on a chair in A&E and will spent tonight on a trolley in A&E, waiting for a bed to come free on the wards. My wife has been with her in A&E now for 29 hours. My brother in law will spend tonight with her. It is simply unacceptable to treat anyone like this.
I know there is a junior doctors strike on, but I hold the government totally responsible for this awful situation.
There must be thousands of people all over the country suffering like this.
How dare the government allow this to happen.

She’s still there. Coming up to 48 hours in A&E. and she can’t be left alone, so my wife has been off work for 2 days and her and her brother are sharing over night shifts.

 

[Beebo]

She was eventually moved to a ward after 55 hours.
Which is a great relief to my wife.

 

[albion]

More train cancellations coming. Apparantly drivers have turned down an offer of £65,000 for a 4 day week, and before overtime.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

More train cancellations coming. Apparantly drivers have turned down an offer of £65,000 for a 4 day week, and before overtime.

What working conditions and/or benefits are they being asked to surrender to get this offer?

 

[Deleted member 49]

More train cancellations coming. Apparantly drivers have turned down an offer of £65,000 for a 4 day week, and before overtime.

Yea right...greedy b@stards.
Maybe try and look at the bigger picture and why they are striking.
https://aslef.org.uk/campaign/fair-pay-stand-train-drivers

 

[Deleted member 49]

No money for Rail Staff lol.

View: https://twitter.com/RMTunion/status/1746929316439437662?t=HPc8Fix7dx_Nr2IH0wWVSA&s=19

 

[Deleted member 49]

Remember when we were told privatisation was to save the mail service.But just as the union predicted that was bollox, all that’s happened since privatisation is workers terms and conditions have been fecked and the mail side of it has been run into the ground.Anyone who's worked there knows this,such a shame of a once great place to work.Nobody wins in this except the greedy shareholders.....Renationalise it !
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...tching-to-three-day-a-week-service-says-ofcom

 

[BoldonLad]

Remember when we were told privatisation was to save the mail service.But just as the union predicted that was bollox, all that’s happened since privatisation is workers terms and conditions have been fecked and the mail side of it has been run into the ground.Anyone who's worked there knows this,such a shame of a once great place to work.Nobody wins in this except the greedy shareholders.....Renationalise it !
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...tching-to-three-day-a-week-service-says-ofcom

It may have been a "great place to work", but, did it provide a "great" service, which customers found attractive?, did costs exceed income?

Not a share I have dabbled in, but...

The Royal Mail share price is almost the same now as it was 5 years ago, although it did have a peak about 2 or 3 years ago, so, if you bought at the right time, and sold at the right time, you could have made a few quid. Taking a 10 year view, if you would have had a significant loss ie approximately £6 per share down to approximately £3 per share.

The Dividend is currently just over 6%, so, just a little more than what could be made in a fixed rate saving account, at the moment.

So, I don't really feel I missed out, indeed, I feel I dodged a bullet.

 

[Deleted member 49]

It may have been a "great place to work", but, did it provide a "great" service, which customers found attractive?, did costs exceed income?

Not a share I have dabbled in, but...

The Royal Mail share price is almost the same now as it was 5 years ago, although it did have a peak about 2 or 3 years ago, so, if you bought at the right time, and sold at the right time, you could have made a few quid. Taking a 10 year view, if you would have had a significant loss ie approximately £6 per share down to approximately £3 per share.

The Dividend is currently just over 6%, so, just a little more than what could be made in a fixed rate saving account, at the moment.

So, I don't really feel I missed out, indeed, I feel I dodged a bullet.

Sure you remember the days of two deliveries a day,even more.recently you could near enough guarantee a first class stamp would get your mail there the next day.Not any more unfortunately.
1.9 billion paid out in dividends since privatisation which should have been re invested in providing a first class service not shareholders pockets.Royal Mail,NHS,Water etc should be seen as essential services not cash cows for the few at the top.Run them for people not for profits.

 

[BoldonLad]

Sure you remember the days of two deliveries a day,even more.recently you could near enough guarantee a first class stamp would get your mail there the next day.Not any more unfortunately.
1.9 billion paid out in dividends since privatisation which should have been re invested in providing a first class service not shareholders pockets.Royal Mail,NHS,Water etc should be seen as essential services not cash cows for the few at the top.Run them for people not for profits.

Yes, I remember two deliveries per day.

I also remember Postmen/women delivering the mail on bicycles.

But, it is not 1950s and longer, needs have changed, electronic transfers etc.

 

[Ian H]

...did costs exceed income?

Publicly owned services are there because the benefits to the country exceed narrow definitions of profitability.

 

[BoldonLad]

Publicly owned services are there because the benefits to the country exceed narrow definitions of profitability.

I don’t entirely disagree with that, but, it wasn’t the ONLY criteria I mentioned, you just happened to cherry pick that.

I never mentioned “profit”. Excess income in publicly owned services can be re-invested in the service for example.

Publicaly owned services are not immune to the changing environment in which they exist. Change is inevitable, and, did happen, even in the case of Royal Mail’s utopian past.